1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of color simulation devices and in particular such color simulation devices utilizing reflected color for the given simulation by the rapid rotation of a color wheel which includes sectors of different colors. This wheel may be viewed by an observer in variable light conditions such as tungsten, fluorescent or day light. Such devices are particularly useful for any type of color matching application particularly for quality control of fabrics, dyes and the like. Devices of this nature have a wide variety of applications such as color communication, color specification, color difference evaluation, color simulation under different lights, color formulation in combination with a computer, color creation, color quality control and production control.
The reflected color simulator of the present invention is specifically usable in a variety of means and is particularly usable for quickly and easily creating a visual reflectance color, including or excluding gloss effects as desired under various controlled illuminants of different color temperatures. It is also particularly usable to quantify and communicate color as well as to exchange color specifications and thus provide decorators and color technologists with means for specifying and visualizing colors. The color values then can be communicated in many different ways, including tele-communication.
This reflected color simulator is also particularly useful to establish quantified visual color differences and tolerances as well as to visualize desired variations about an existing or created color standard. Also the device is found to be particularly useful to retrieve a stored visual color standard from a file of many million colors. When used with a microprocessor color values from various color order systems or color scales can be entered and converted into the equivalent visual color. When interfaced with a computerized system this reflected color simulator can be used with specific software to formulate a color to a visually "created" color where no standard exists. With a similar system this color simulator can be used to match a metameric standard and has the capability to illustrate less resultant metamerism than with other types of simulating systems.
When used with a minicomputer system this simulator can obtain a final color correction to attain a satisfactory production match. The simulator can also be interfaced to a paint dispensing means to produce a complete color match from initial color selection to an actual paint sample or batch in a minimal amount of time. When using appropriate color discs this simulator can show metallic, pearlescent or fluorescent colors. When further appropriate color discs are used this simulator can show graphic arts colors and from this there can be calculated optimum blended ink formulas.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many prior art devices have been designed in order to simulate colors by reflection. Heretofore such devices were limited in application. Most of the successful devices utilize a rapidly rotating and variable color wheel, however, with most such devices it was necessary to stop the wheel in order to vary the color thereof and then initiate rotation thereof again. In those devices which did allow color adjustment during wheel rotation, the mechanism and methods of adjustment proved to be awkward and cumbersome. The present invention provides an efficient operating device which allows continuous variation of the color while maintaining the mixing speed of rotation of the color wheel. Also the present invention allows easy replacement of the chosen color wheels to vary the gamut of possible colors and visual effects.
Some attempts at this type of design have been made heretofore, however, such designs utilized often complicated and intricate mechanical intergearing which proved to be less than suitable for everyday use due to the excessive maintenance requirements. Also such devices produce excessive and unacceptable tolerance levels due to the lag introduced by numerous gear to gear contacts required with such mechanical configurations. The present invention provides an electrical means for continuously controlling the intermixing of interleaved color discs wherein near zero tolerancing is achieved as to the read-out of the disc positions, without the usual requirement of precision tolerancing of the mechanical components. This success is achieved by the combination of a mechanical design which provides a directly plurality of concentric drums each including an individual drive means, which is simultaneously rotatable with the color wheel itself; plus an integral encoding means which reads the direct position of each disc segment from the exposed orifices located in the periphery of the respective disc segments.